Relationship between the Level of Education of the National Health Insurance Scheme Enrollees and the Utilization of Health Care Services in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

This research sought to find out the relationship between the level of education of the enrollees of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the utilization of health care services in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. It adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design. The theoretical framework that underpins the study is the Health Care Utilization theory by Max Andersen. Data was collected via the Relationship between Level of Education & Utilization of Health Insurance Scale (LEUHIS). The LEUHIS was designed and validated by the researchers and the reliability coefficient was 0.77. A purposeful and simple random sampling was used to select 500 enrollees within the National Health Insurance Scheme in Bayelsa State. Over seventy-six percent N=300 (76.4%) of the respondents had primary and secondary education. Data was analyzed with the aid of descriptive statistics and results were presented in frequency tables. Results showed that the level of education of enrollees influences the utilization of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Bayelsa State. Most of the enrollees N=198 (43.8%) reported that they can only receive medical care if the hospital is within the study area. The majority of the respondents N=226 (72.1%) had greater access to health services than before due to the location of NHIS in the study area. The respondents N=283(62.6%) also agree that healthcare providers demand a fee for bed from day one of hospital admission. NHIS desk officers did not educate respondents N=207(45.8%) on the benefits of enrollees who registered under the scheme. The enrollees N=157 (34.7%) also agree that NHIS only provide primary services for adults. Also, the study N=147 (32.1%) confirmed that hospitals do not treat NHIS enrollees with respect and N=304 (67.2%) disagreed that NHIS has the right to stop medical treatment due to changes in healthcare facilities. The study concluded that the educational level of NHIS users can promote the effective implementation and utilization of NHIS, hence, more sensitization should be done by healthcare providers and other relevant stakeholders on the need for individuals to enroll on NHIS.